2023-11-22 04:10:25
Given the significant delays encountered by the Nord-Bordet metro project, the Brussels government is looking into options aimed at strengthening the surface mobility offer.
Beliris announced this Tuesday that it had resubmitted adapted plans for the planning permit application for the construction of a 4.5 km tunnel between the Gare du Nord and Bordet and seven new stations as well as a depot. A public inquiry will take place next January. Enough to give the impression that the metro 3 project is continuing its course… But make no mistake: the financial obstacle has still not been removed and we will obviously have to wait until the next government is put in place for formal decisions to be taken.
If metro 3 is not a dead project for the moment, it is in any case very seriously delayed. In its discussions, the Brussels government indicates that the commissioning of the North-Bordet section will not take place before 2034 at the earliest. The team of Rudi Vervoort (PS) had therefore tasked, before the summer holidays, the regional Minister of Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) with find solutions aimed at strengthening the space supply in the Schaerbeek and Evere districts concerned.
No miracle solution
Since then, a list of 13 tracks identified by the Stib and Bruxelles Mobilité was presented to members of the Brussels government. Some avenues are more ambitious or timely than others, but it quickly emerges from the analysis that there is no miracle solution, even when combining them. And that these entail expenses, ranging from 4 to 80 million euros, which are not integrated into the current multi-year investment plans.
The 13 identified tracks
- Improvement of commercial speed and regularity of tram line 55
- Improvement of the frequency of tram line 55
- Increase in tram capacity on line 55
- Surface passage with Gare du Nord terminus, linked to the Tour&Taxis tram
- Merger of tram lines 4 and 55
- Diversion of tram 92 towards Bordet/Da Vinci
- Diversion of tram 92 via rue Gallait
- Reversal of the northern branches of tram lines 55 and 92
- Opening of a second tram line in parallel (Chée De Haecht or other)
- Doubling of tram 55 by a bus
- Strengthening existing bus routes
- Raising awareness of the use of all other modes of mobility
- Acceleration of the implementation of the most structuring bicycle network
Let’s take the example of solutions consisting of strengthening tram line 55, the route of which corresponds to that of the future metro. Improving its commercial speed would require a significant redevelopment of public space: reconfiguration of intersections, removal of parking, traffic plan, priority at traffic lights, etc. The gains might then be reinvested in improving frequencies, but it has already been made clear that this would not meet demand in the long term.
The increase in tram 55 frequencies faces technical obstacles, including the saturation of the Gare du Nord–Rogier underground complex.
The increase in tram 55 frequencies faces technical obstacles including saturation of the Gare du Nord–Rogier underground complex. It would also be necessary to carry out significant investments at the Rogier terminal, which is shared between lines 25 and 55 and is also not suitable for accommodating more trams. It is also a question of saturation of the Liedts sectoralready used by nearly forty trams per hour and per direction during rush hour, which would only allow a “very small” increase in the frequency of tram 55, unless that of other lines is reduced.
On the other hand, the use of T4000 vehicles on line 55 would make it possible to offer 40% more places and to last another ten years before complete saturation. But this option requiring the extension of the acquisition market to include the manufacture of 18 T4000s and the reconstruction of most of the stops on the line would not be not put into service before 2030-2031. Same type of obstacle for a possible merger of trams 4 and 55: the adaptation of stops and the use of T4000 makes the option possible in 2030 at the earliest.
A tram on Chaussée de Haecht
All the other tracks listed have their share of pitfalls. THE deviations planned on line 92 only provide solutions for portions of lines, with the risk of making the overall offer less readable. Deemed attractive on paper, the doubling of tram 55 with a bus line is not ideal, given that the pre-metro stops would not be served, meaning that the offer would be available from platforms far from each other, forcing users to choose, with the risk of poor distribution of loads between vehicles. It would also be necessary to conclude a bus acquisition contract and increase storage capacities.
Opening a second tram line in parallel would be the most expensive option and would only make sense if the northern branch of metro 3 was abandoned.
Finally, the opening of a second tram line in parallel, with a Bordet-Botanique route via the Chaussée de Haecht, is described as “interesting”, because it would avoid the saturation problems of the 55 while strengthening the north-eastern service of the Region. But this implies creating nearly 3 km of new infrastructure, to which is added the purchase of rolling stock, for entry into service no earlier than 2032. Good performance of the line would be conditional on its own site being made possible by partially eliminating parking. This option, which is the most expensive, would only make sense in the case of abandoning the construction of the northern branch of metro 3.conclude the Stib and Brussels Mobility.
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